Method of treating fabric



.March 12 1940- T. MccoNNELL.

METHOD OF TRENI-ING FABRIC original Filed Nov. 21, 193e INVENTOR IBY70MAS MGA/ELL 62g@ l M ATTORNEYS Patented Mar. 12, 1940 VUNITED STATESPAT-ENT OFFICE METHOD F -TBEAT'ING FABRIC Application November 21, 193s,serial No. 112,001

Renewed November ZZ, 1939 7 Claims.

This invention relates to the manufacture of fabrics such as pliss crepein which localized shrinkage of the cloth is employed to produce the.characteristic puckered or crinkled appearance.

Fabrics of this general character have inthe past been produced by aseries of substantially independent manufacturing operations eachcompleted separately. As far as I am aware, no method has heretoforebeen proposed by which the production of these fabrics could be carriedout as` a continuous and unitary operation, or without subjecting thefabric to uneven tension or pressure conditions which createdirregularities in the final product. Among the diiiiculties which havebeen encountered in attempting a continuous operation of this characterare'the mechanical diiliculties of Asynchronizing the vari-- ousmachines conventionally used in carrying out the various treatments towhich the cloth must be subjected. A further diiiiculty has arisen inpreviously proposed processes in that the fabric has been subjected touneven strain or pressure as by drawing it through guide eyes Whilecondensed laterally intorope form, or by piling it in folded conditionin boxes in which it remained during the intervals'between operations.

It is one object of the present invention to provide a process whichwill permit the production of fabrics of the above character as acontinuous operation in a way to avoid the dimculties heretoforeencountered. Other and further objects relating to improvements in thequality of the product resulting from details of the method will be madeapparent in the followingspeciiication and claims.

The accompanying drawing shows diagrammatically one suitable arrangementof mechanism for carrying out the method of this in vention.

Figs. 1 and 2 ,show successive portions of a unitary machine forcarrying out the method.

Referring to the drawing the supply of cloth to be processed isindicated at III in the form of a roll. The cloth is drawn from roll I0in fiat web form 'Il over a guide roll I2 and between a printing roll I3vand an endless belt I4, preferably of rubber. Belt I4 passes arounddrums or cylinders I5, one of which is driven. A web of liner" orbacking fabric I6 is fed from a supply roll I'l over a guide roll I8 andbetween the belt I4 and the web II; the liner, after the webs havepassed through the printing mechanism, being separated from web II anddirected by suitable guide rolls I8 to a windup indicated at 20.

" the back or unprinted side of the web. Due to 'Ihe printing rollI I3may take the form of an engraved copper roll rotating in a box 2|containing a shrinking agent such as caustic sodal y with a gum carrier.As the roll I3 brings yup this caustic paste, the excess is scraped oifby a doc- I tor 22, leaving the engraved part lled. The roll I 3 ispositioned to act against the web and belt at a point where the latteris backed by one of the cylinders I5. The pressure applied by theprinting roll is suiiicient to transfer the paste from 10 the engravingsof the roll to, and part way through, the cloth. As will be understoodtheaction of the caustic paste is to shrink or mercerize the clothIlocally at the areas covered by the paste, the puckering of the clothoccurring 1B between vthe printed areas.

The web II after leaving the printing device passes over guide roll 23to a finely divided water Ispray generally indicated at 24 whichmoistens the hygroscopic action of the caustic soda the latter is drawnthrough the cloth at the printed portions. The spray is not heavy enoughto Wet the cloth thoroughly, being suiiicient only to cause penetrationof the cloth by the caustic, providing a sharp definition of the bordersof the printed areas without diluting the caustic soda or causing it torun over the unprinted portions. 'I'his treatment of the reverse side ofthe web as part of the printing operation is believed novel and a0results in a product of improved appearance and more uniform quality.

After moistening, the web passes -to feeding rolls indicated at 25 whichripples the web into a J-box as shown at 26. The J-box is of a sizesuilicient to allow time for local mercerization and shrinking of thecloth during its passage through the box. A slow moving conveyor may beused at this point if preferred.

From the J-box the web is directed through driven rolls 21 which deliverthe web to a net conveyor 28 which is enclosed by a housing 29. Theconveyor` 28 is driven at less speed than the normal advance of the webso that the web ripples ontol the conveyor. Hot air is supplied to thehousing from any suitable source, not shown. The hot air passing throughthe cloth during the passage of the rippled web through housing 29 isinsuflicient to 'completely dry the cloth, but heats the cloth andpartially dries it to complete the shrinking reaction.

After leaving the conveyor 28 the web passes through driven rolls 30 anddownwardly between perforated pipes 3| that constantly spray H2504,preferably having a sp. gr. of 1.03, to saturate tll'e u ment.

cloth as it ripples onto a belt conveyor 32 which is traveling at aspeed sumciently low to allow time for the NaOH to be neutralized. Overconveyor 32, which maybe formed of a plurality of narrow belts or asingle wide belt of perforated material, are positioned perforatedrubber trays 33 which are kept filled with the same acid solution as isused in pipes 3|. The solution from the trays falling downwardly on therippled web on the conveyor furthers the neutralization and assistsmechanically in the removal of the gum by the downward wash. Conveyor 32is set with the delivery end higher than the receiving end to promotedrainage and reduce the carry-over of acid to the succeeding washingcompartment. The acid from pipes 3| and trays 33 is collected at thebottom of housing 34 in which the spraying mechanisms are located and isrecirculated by a pump 35 through suitable piping 38. A small feed line,not shown, enters the system at any suitable point to introduce strongacid in sufficient quantity to maintain the neutralizing solution at auniform strength.

From the neutralizing conveyor the web passes over a bow bar 31 toeliminate the possibility of scrimps and then over a rubber covered drum33 which is driven to advance the web, still without tension. Rollingfreely on top of drum 38 is a small wooden roller 39 that by its weighteliminates slippage of the web on the drum.

The neutralized web passes over a guide roll 40 and into a rippledformation on a belt conveyor 4|, similar in construction to conveyor 32and positioned in suitable tank structure 42. Above the conveyor 4| arelocated a plurality of perforated trays 43, which shower the advancingrippled web with water to Wash the acid from the cloth. 'Ihe length ofconveyor 4| and its speed of travel are made such that all traces ofacid are removed.

After washing, the web is fed from conveyor 4| by feed rolls 44 and 45,similar to rolls 38 and 39, and over supporting rolls 46 :and 41 to atwo-bowl mangle shown at 48--49 which removes excess moisture from thecloth. n leaving the mangle, the web is folded by suitable mechanism asat 63 into a box 84.

Several important features of novelty should be particularly noted. Thecloth. at no time is condensed transversely, in other words it is keptin full width web form throughout its treat- The advance of the web iscontinuous without either warp-wise or weft-Wise tension, and actuallyat a substantially uniform rate.

.The necessary variations in time for the various operations are securedby rippling the fabric through J-boxes or on slow moving conveyors. Thematerial is moved through the J-boxes or on the conveyors at a slow ratebut in a large bulk per unit of length. When the material is moving iniiat form it travels at a higher speed but in a less bulk per unit oflength. Moreover, by alternating these two conditions of the web andadapting the various operations alternately to these conditions, noelaborate synchronizing devices are required, simple variable speeddrives being adequate, in cooperation with the tolerance allowed by therippled accumulations of the web positioned between the several sets ofweb driving rolls, to compensate for minor speed variations and forprogressive shrinkage o'f the web and its relaxing during washing andother moistening steps.

Pliss crepe is obtained by the foregoing means in a better and moreuniform quality than has hitherto been possible. The localized shrinkageproduced by the caustic paste or other shrinking agent createsintermediate puckered areas in which the web has a greater apparentthickness or loft. This loft being due to the local waviness of the weband not to any increased thickness of the fabric, it is particularlysusceptible to injury if the web is subjected to uneven or localpressure or tension. In prior processes where the web has been gatheredtransversely into rope form for transfer from one operation to another,the drawing of the rope through the guide eyes gave an uneven tension indiil'erent portions of the web which was clearly traceable in theiinished product. In ordinary cloth finishing this would not beimportant, `since the cloth is straightened under a relatively heavytension in the tenter. Such a tension is not possible in the manufactureof pliss crepe, as it would destroy the fullness or loft of the puckeredareas. For this reason the process described herein produces a crepe ofimproved quality, since the web is never subjected to irregular tension.

In other prior processes the web has been folded into a box for transferfrom one operation to another. 'I'he folded cloth at the bottom of sucha box would be subjected to the pressure of the cloth above it for acomparatively long time, the destruction of the loft of the fabric beingespecially pronounced at the fold lines. In accordance with the presentinvention, the fold lines are never subjected to pressure; and thelocation of the fold lines is changed from one rippling operation toanother. Furthermore, the web is never subjected to tension eitherwarp-wise or weft-wise, even those short runs where the fabric bears theweight of a short length of the web being of so short a duration that noinjury to the loft of the fabric can result.

What I claim is:

1. The method of producing pliss crepe and like fabrics as a continuousoperation which comprises continuously advancing a web of cloth in fiatform, applying a hygroscopic shrinking agent in a predetermined patternto one side of the advancing iiat web of cloth, drawing the lshrinkingagent through to the opposite side of the web from that upon which itwas printed by supplying moisture thereto from the web to satisfy itshygroscopic action, rippling the web into a more slowly moving butcontinuously advancingA accumulated form, and continuing the advance ofthe web in rippled condition and without subjecting the web to warp-wiseor weft-wise tension for a sufficient length of time to permitsubstantial completion of the action of the shrinking agent.

2. The method of producing pliss crepe and like fabrics as a continuousoperation which comprises continuously advancing a. web of cloth to betreated, transferring a caustic mercerizing paste from the intaglioportions of an engraved roll to one face of the web under sufficientpressure to force the paste partway through the cloth, moistening theopposite side of the web to thereby cause the paste to complete thepenetration of the web by hygroscopic action, feeding the web forward inflat form and rippling it into a more slowly moving but continuouslyadvancing accumulated form, carrying out the mercerizing action andsuccessive neutralizing and washing operations whilegthe web is inrippled condition and feeding the web in fiat form from its rippledcondition whereby a substantially uniform rate of advance of the web asa whole is obtained without exact synchronization between the severaladvancing and feeding movements.

3. The method of applying a caustic mercerizing paste to cloth in theproduction of pliss crepe and like fabrics which comprises transferringthe paste to one face of the cloth fom the intaglio portions of anengraved roll under sufficient pressure to force the paste partwaythrough the cloth and thereafter moistening the opposite side of thecloth sufliciently to thereby cause the paste to complete the penerationof the cloth byV hygroscopic action.

4. 'Ihe method of applying a caustic mercerizing paste to cloth in theproduction of pliss crepe and like fabrics which comprises transferringthel paste to one face of the cloth from a printing roll undersufficient pressure to force the paste partway through the cloth andthereafter moistening the opposite side of the clothv sufficiently tocause the paste to complete the penetration of the cloth by hygroscopicaction.

5. A method of making pliss or like fabrics which includes the steps ofplacing a shrinking agent in the form of a hygroscoplc mercerizing pastein the intaglio portions of an engraved roll, transferring the paste tothe cloth by rolling the latter between the roll and a rubber backingmember under sufflcient pressure to force the paste part way through thecloth, and drawing the shrinking agent through to the opposite side ofthe web from that upon which it was printed by supplying moisturethereto from ,the web to satisfy its hygroscopic action.

6. A method of making pliss crepe or like fabrics which includes thesteps of placing a shrinking agent in the form of a hygroscopicmercerizing paste in the intaglio portions of an engraved roll,transferring the paste to the cloth by rolling the latter between theroll and a rubber backing member under sufficient pressure to force thepaste part way through the cloth, drawing the shrinking agent through tothe opposite side of the web from that upon which it was printed bysupplying moisture thereto froml the web to satisfy its hygroscopicaction, rippling the web into a slowly moving but continuously advancingaccumulated form, and continuing the advance of the web in rippledcondition and without subjecting the web to warp-wise or weft-wisetension for a suicient length of time to permit the desired action ofthe shrinking agent.

7. A method of producing pliss crepe and like fabrics as a continuousoperation which comprisescontinuously advancing a web of cloth in flatform, applying a hygroscopic shrinking agent in a predetermined patternto one side of the advancing flat web of cloth, drawing' the shrinkingagent through to the opposite side of the web from that upon which itwas printed by supplying moisture thereto from the web to satisfy itshygroscopic action, rippling the web into a more slowly movingbutcontinuously advancing accumulated form, continuing the advance .of theweb in rippled condition and without subjecting the web to warp-wise orweft-wise tension for a sufficient length of time to permit completionof the action of the shrinking agent, and neutralizing the shrinkingagent, washing, and drying the web all without subjecting the web toWarp-wise or weft-wise tension.

THOMAS McCONNELL.

